Russia has released from custody US citizen Stephen Hubbard, whom it accused of mercenarism and abducted from Izium. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived in St Petersburg.
The Russian news agency TASS reported the information. CNN writes that the 74-year-old Hubbard was detained four years ago.
He is a retired teacher from Michigan, whom Russia accused of taking part in combat operations for Ukraine. In 2014, the man moved to Izium, a city in Kharkiv region that was under occupation in 2022.
The occupiers claimed that the 70-year-old Hubbard had allegedly signed a contract with the Ukrainian armed forces and was receiving $1,000 a month. The man’s sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, denied his involvement in the war. The US State Department also described the allegations against him as not credible.
Before Witkoff’s trip to Russia, US officials said they would discuss efforts to secure Hubbard’s release at the meeting with Putin.